The Giving Response

today's sermon at Faith United Church, UCC, International Falls, MN

Texts: Psalm 46 and 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

How many of you have ever experienced an earthquake?

It’s very scary when the floor or the ground slides back & forth under your feet! And the sound of plate glass windows or sliding glass doors shaking is unnerving—to put it mildly. It’s freaky when you’re in the grocery store looking at items on the shelf and they start wiggling on their own and you realize it’s not being caused by someone on the other side stocking shelves. When your rocking chair rocks by itself with no one in it and your hanging plant starts swaying, you’re going to want to run for cover… but where? When you’re outside and the air is perfectly still but the tree you’re looking at is violently swishing back and forth as if it was in a huge storm and the car at the curb is bouncing up and down as if someone was jumping on the bumper—but no one is there—you might want to grab onto something for support. When you’re sitting on your couch reading the paper and glance out the window and realize the water in your in-ground pool is sloshing over the edge, you may have a hard time believing what you’re seeing.

All but the swimming pool incident happened to me when we lived in California. In 1989 one of our seminary professors drove over the section of freeway that collapsed in Oakland 15 minutes before the quake hit. A family friend was at Candlestick Park when the quake hit at the beginning of the World Series. A seminary classmate who grew up near Boston couldn’t bring himself to go home to his apartment in San Francisco for at least 2 weeks—and his apartment wasn’t damaged. Another friend knew the truck driver who was rescued from the collapsed freeway but later died.

My grandmother experienced the Quake of 1906. She lived south of San Francisco. The temblor opened the barn door and the horse walked out. That night she could see the glow in the sky from the fires in The City.

I was at a bus stop at the BART station in Hayward, CA during the 1989 earthquake. While the ground slid and the tree waved frantically and the car bounced, several of us looked at each other wide-eyed and then we all grabbed for the bus pole at the same time, just as the shaking stopped. The bus driver was so freaked he went right on by and didn’t pick us up, so we had to wait another half hour for the next bus and then we heard about part of the Bay Bridge collapsing….

But what if most of your city collapsed? Can you imagine? I can’t. I can tell you what it’s like to experience an earthquake, but I can’t imagine the kind of destruction that happened in Haiti this week. I can’t imagine the horror, the fear, the grief, the loss… My seminary professor had to leave 2 hours early to drive the long way around from Berkeley to San Francisco airport while the bridge was being repaired, but that kind of inconvenience is nothing compared to what people are experiencing in Haiti.

And to top it off, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere.

The death toll is staggering. I read last night that the Director of the humanitarian relief agency of the United Methodist Church died before he could be rescued from the ruins of a hotel in Port-au-Prince. Others in the group were rescued and brought home, but they were all trapped in the rubble for 55 hours.

When I heard about the tsunami a few years ago, and Hurricane Katrina, and major earthquakes in various parts of the world in recent years, one of my first thoughts is of Psalm 46. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. … God is in the midst of the city; …God will help it when the morning dawns. …”Be still and know that I am God!” … The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. [1]

First there is the horror and the shock of it all as the news stories, photos and videos start coming in. We sit, transfixed, in front of our TVs and computer screens.

Next there always seems to be the weird and crazy statements by a few predictable sources telling us why it’s the victims’ fault. In this case Haiti is supposed to have made a pact with the devil. A quick-thinking person wrote that if Haiti had a deal with Satan they would have lots of banks and high rises, SUVs, botox, wealth, exclusive night clubs, glamour, talent and fame. [2]

And then, thank goodness, comes the giving response. Something new this time has been the option to send a text message on your cell phone in order to donate $5 or $10 for Haiti and then you just pay it along with your cell phone bill. Many people took advantage of that option and it was a great way to get help going quickly.

Paul wrote, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” [3]

We all do what we can do—both in this situation and in everything else we encounter in life. It’s amazing, though, how disaster generally brings out the best in humanity. The United States is sending troops to Haiti and Cuba is sending doctors. I read that American Airlines was flying relief workers over and that UPS was shipping packages to Haiti free of charge. You can go to McDonald’s (here in the Falls or in Fort Frances) and eat hotcakes all day today and next Sunday and the proceeds will be given to earthquake relief in Haiti. Whatever we give here at the church—today and next week—will be matched by the Endowment Fund. What a wonderful gift!

Everyone is doing what they can, according to the gifts they’ve been given. That’s all we can do and it’s what we’re called to do. The relief efforts, money and people flooding into Haiti are an example on a grand scale. On a much smaller scale, we each do what we can for our church. Today is one of the times we really see that when we elect our slate of officers at Annual Meeting. Some people have the gift to be on the property committee, others for the finance committee, others for evangelism, Christian Ed, deacons or church life. And someone out there has the gift that would make them an excellent church clerk—they just haven’t realized it yet! (Hopefully they will by the time we get to nominations from the floor!)

What makes the church work, or the relief efforts work, is everyone working together, using their God-given gifts and talents to help others, to serve God and to bring hope, comfort and love to God’s people everywhere in the world.

“Be still and know that I am God!” God is with all the people in the best of times and the worst of times. No matter who… no matter what… no matter where… The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. AMEN.

Endnotes

[1] Verses from Psalm 46, NRSV.

[2] http://www.startribune.com/opinion/letters/81595442.html letter to the editor of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Jan. 14, 2010.

[3] 1 Corinthians 12:4-7, NRSV.